“What’s wrong?” Ryder and I both asked at the same time.
“There’s a head,” Eliran said, pointing it out on the screen, “and there’s another one.”
I felt my stomach drop. “Oh my God, my baby has two heads!?” I cried, feeling as if the table had fallen out from beneath me and my entire world was crumbling.
Ryder looked at me, and the look in his eyes was of sheer pain, and unmasked horror. Our baby had two freaking heads!? “Can he live like that?” Ryder asked.
Can he live like that!?
Eliran shook his head and I felt my heart shattering. He swept the wand over my tummy slightly.
“You misunderstand. Your babies each have a head of their own,” he said with a bright smile on his face. Two heartbeats could be heard like they were beating through a tunnel.
“Say what?” I asked, unsure I’d heard him correctly.
“Twins, you are having twins. There is no mistake. See?” He pointed to one of the heads and followed the lines with his fingers. “Two arms, two legs, and a head and torso. And this,” he did the same again with the second one, “has the same. It explains Synthia’s acute case of morning sickness.”
I wasn’t listening anymore. I was shaking as the ringing in my ears echoed through my head. “Fucking Fairy!” I growled, turning my eyes to Ryder’s face. I lost every single ounce of the desire to throttle him as fast as it had formed. He was staring at the screen with wonder in his eyes.
“How many other cases of twins have there been in Faery, Eliran?” Ryder asked, ignoring me.
“None I know of personally.”
“One,” he corrected him and lowered his smiling golden eyes to meet mine. “Shit,” his eyes lifted back to Eliran. “How safe is it for her to have twins?”
“I have no idea, but I will ask around and see if anyone has heard of twins being delivered by a Fae mother. I do know that there was a case over millennia ago, but it didn’t work out for the mother. The children, however, were born safely. We have human technology, though, and I can look through the information I brought back to learn everything I can about delivering twins.”
“You do that,” Ryder whispered.
“Genders?” I asked, trying to ignore what they were talking about. I had lived through Fae ripping my family apart, a serial killer, and had faced the Horde King. No way in hell would I die giving birth!
“Too soon to tell, but they look healthy. Heartbeats are very strong, considering they are only two months along by human standards. They look good, and so do you, Synthia.”
Ryder’s hand lowered with a tissue and he wiped the gel from my stomach without waiting for Eliran to remove the wand. “Is she well enough to mission travel across Faery, possibly for several weeks?”
“She is, but only if she is feeling up to it,” Eliran said, turning his head and winking at me over his shoulder.
“I’m ready to go,” I said, smiling up at Ryder, who was even now holding out his hand to help me up. I dismissed it and sat up.
“Synthia, I’ll do everything I can to ensure you are okay. Twins are a good thing; it will give the people hope.”
“Of what? That the Horde King can shoot an egg and fill it twice?” I asked, raising a brow. “Or that he’s virile as a flipping rabbit?” I glowered when Ryder snorted and grinned devilishly at me.
“Let’s go, Pet. I have a meeting with the Guard to go to, so that we can plan this out and we will have to make a few adjustments if you are going with us.”
Chapter Nineteen
Less than an hour later, we met up with his Guard in a warded meeting room. A sense of excitement stole over me as I moved toward the table…that was round. The sight of it made me smile. “A round table?” I asked, tossing a curious look toward Ryder, which he caught. I watched his lips turn up in the corners before he sat down.
I moved my eyes to look around the room, taking in the wards that lined the walls. I’d been in a room like this in the mansion, one that had knocked Larissa to her knees. It had been the first indication that I was Fae, and I’d done my best to ignore it.
My eyes slipped back to Ryder, who was watching me closely. I rolled my eyes as his grin grew into a blinding smile as if he was thinking the same thing. I sat down in a chair. At least this time I didn’t feel like I was the hired help.